Age Gap
by TimeLadySkie
Summary: This is a fanfiction that I wrote for my friend Ariel. We are both obsessed with Dr. Who, so I wrote this as a gift for her. While you're reading it, feel free to insert your name instead of her's, assuming you're a girl. Or, maybe not. Review!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

We ran into an alcove in the side of the room, and the Doctor swung the iron prison door shut. He locked it and we both retreated back against the wall. Panting, I looked at the Doctor's face, his sharp features alight with stress.

"Are we going to die Doctor?" I asked, sliding down the wall to sit on the cold stone floor, my voice calm. The creatures from Hell franticly shook the rusty iron gridlock that stood between them and their prey; us and our death. How long until it gave out? He looked down at me, and then slowly sat down next to me.

"Most likely, Ariel. I'm sorry that you have to die on your first adventure with me. I shall miss the ones we will never get to go on together. I was looking forward to them."

I smiled a sad smile. "I'll miss them too, Doctor." I said sincerely. "But at least we'll die together, right?"

"Together." He repeated. And he reached down and took my hand in his, and gripped it tight. I squeezed his hand back. It was warm, and holding it gave me a strange sense of peace, along with an overwhelming sense of power. I stood up, dragging him with me.

"Well then, I refuse to die sitting down, or at least not without putting up a decent fight. Are you with me Doctor?" I looked up at his face.

"Until the end of time." He declared. All of a sudden, there was a colossal explosion. We were flung to the ground as the door flew off of its hinges, taking out half of the hell-demons. The rest screamed a scream that tore through my body like a thousand red-hot swords as the abandoned prison collapsed on top of them. And on us.

I covered my head with my arms and cowered on the floor, hoping that I would not be crushed alive. I heard someone shouting my name, but I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. I looked around, and through all of the falling debris and dust that filled the air, I saw a figure moving, beckoning me. I crawled over to the Doctor who was holding open a small trapdoor, which had been cleverly concealed as stone. As he indicated, I lowered myself down into the hole as fast as I could. I heard the Doctor jump down next to me, and shut the trap door.

"Now we're safe." He said, breathing hard. I coughed, my lungs filled with ancient dust.

"How did you know about this?" I asked breathlessly.

"Well, first off, I figured the prison would have one, seeming how most dungeons in the medieval ages did. And when we first ran in here, I thought that one of the stones sounded hollow. And I guessed it was a trapdoor." He stated simply.

"Well why the hell wouldn't you have mentioned it in the first place?" I yelled at him. "We were this close to dying," I held up my thumb and forefinger, holding them about half-an-inch apart. "And you didn't think to mention this to me?"

"Well, I didn't think it was worth mentioning." He shrugged.

"Didn't think it was..!" I stopped, so infuriated that I couldn't speak.

It was dark, and the space was just barely big enough for the two of us. There were only few inches between his chest and mine. I could feel his soft breath on my face. I felt something touch my hand, and I jumped, inhaling a sharp breath.

"It's just me, Ariel. Calm down." He said, grasping my hand with his, and pulling me closer. My heart started to beat faster, and I felt a blush stain my cheeks. Even though I could still hear the building crumbling above us, it seemed quiet in our little sanctuary.

"We still might suffocate if we can't get out." I whispered, to break the silence that had gotten rather loud. He scoffed.

"Way to be optimistic, Ariel." He quipped sarcastically, squeezing my hand, his breath caressing my face as he quietly laughed. I closed my eyes, though it made no difference in the darkness, and took a deep breath. The silence had grown louder when I realized that no more sound came from above our heads. I tried to push up on the trapdoor, but it wouldn't budge. Then the Doctor tried, and it still didn't move. The sonic didn't even do anything.

_That's it._ I thought. _We're buried under a thousand pounds of stone. We're going to suffocate down here. No one knows where we are, and anyone who saw the wreckage wouldn't think that anyone could survive that. But then again,_ I paused, confused. Why would anyone want to blow up an ancient prison unless they knew about the hell-demons? I voiced my question to the Doctor, and he thought it over.

"I honestly don't know, Ariel. It could have been anyone. But we owe them our lives."

"Not really," I muttered, "We're still going to die; just from suffocation." I leaned up against the wall behind me. It was already getting harder to breath. With the two of us down here, the oxygen was being used up quickly.

"Well, if we're going to die, then you will have no chance to ever tell anyone about this." The Doctor murmured. His free hand brushed my cheek while his other squeezed my hand harder as he stepped forward.

And the Doctor was kissing me. And I was kissing the Doctor. It started out soft and gentle, but grew in intensity until we were gasping for breath, one of his hands knotting in my hair, the other at the small of my back, pulling me towards him. My arms were around his neck, and I was kissing him for all I was worth. He tasted good; so good that I couldn't get enough of his lips and tongue, nor him of mine. But it was getting steadily harder and harder to breathe, and I was growing groggy and weary. With my last vestiges of strength, I kissed the Doctor even harder, forcing him back up against the wall.

Suddenly, yet almost passively, due to the extreme lack of oxygen, I felt the both of us falling as the wall gave way, and I blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I felt someone gently stroking my cheek as I slowly came too. I felt a slight tickle in the back of my throat, and I coughed.

"Ariel?" I pried my eyes open, and saw the Doctor staring at my face. I cracked a smile.

"Hello Doctor." I said, my voice scratchy from disuse. "Am I alive?" Now it was his turn to smile.

"Yes, Ariel, you're alive."

"But how?" I asked, incredulous.

"There was a passage. I was stupid not to have thought of it earlier, seeming how no prisoner would have gone through the trouble of making that thing, and not making a way out."

"Unless he died before he finished." I stated.

"Again with the pessimism!" He cracked a smile. "Yes, there is that possibility. But still, I was stupid."

"Well, I'm not about to argue with that." I said, still smiling. He laughed loudly. "Oh, by the way," I added. "Did you figure out who helped us by blowing up the prison?"

"Oh, yeah! I nearly forgot. Have I by any chance ever mentioned Captain Jack Harkness to you before?" I sat up suddenly.

"Are you serious? He was the one who saved us?"

"Yup." The voice came from the door way. I whipped my head around and saw a man who looked to be in his early twenties leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, a slight smirk on his face. As I watched, he pushed himself off of the lintel, and strode forward. When he reached the side of my bed, he held out his hand to me palm up, and he introduced himself, staring into my eyes with intensity, a smiling playing around his ice-blue eyes.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Hello." he drawled, and I hadn't ever known that a man could seduce me with one sentence, but here was proof. I placed my hand in his, intending to grasp it and shake it. But he surprised me by raising it to his lips and kissing it. "Sorry," He said, looking into my eyes, smirking as if he wasn't very sorry at all. "I was just visiting 'ye olde' England, and I'm still in Elizabethan mode."

"Oh no, it's fine! I don't mind. I mean… I…" I stopped, embarrassed. I saw the Doctor roll his eyes out of the corner of my eye. I cleared my throat. "So, did any of the demons survive the building crashing?" I said, trying to change the subject while gently removing my hand that was still grasped in Jack's. I was also painfully aware that I was lying down in a bed with my hair a total mess, and my face not too much better. And could I smell any worse?

"Not that I know of," The Doctor replied. "But I guess it's possible. As soon as you're able, we'll go back and check it out. Sound good?" I nodded. "Good. Jack, I'm going to need your help in the control room. Ariel, you rest." I nodded again.

"Goodbye for now, Ariel." Jack ran his hand through his already tousled brown hair as he smiled and raised his eyebrows a millimeter. I blushed furiously.

"Goodbye, Captain." I said shyly. The Doctor walked out into the hallway, then stuck his head back in the door when he realized that Jack was still staring at me, smiling.

"Come on, Jack!" Jack reluctantly broke his gaze, walked over to the door, and was just about to walk out, when he turned back to me and said:

"Call me Jack." And walked out of the door.

It took me a few minutes to recover from my encounter with Captainfreaking Jack Harkness! First aliens, then the Doctor, and now HIM? Could my week get any weirder? Or awesomer?

A little while later I realized that I hadn't ever introduced myself.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As I softly padded into the Control Room, I heard random banging, squeaking and squealing noises coming from somewhere under my feet. I looked down, and I saw sparks suddenly bursting up from the grated floor. Startled, I jumped back and let out a little yelp.

"Ariel?" There was a thwacking sound followed by a pained outcry. "Is that you?" the Doctor asked from where the sparks had exploded.

"Uhhh, yeah." I answered, still slightly shaken.

"Oh. Sorry about that." There was the sound of footsteps and one of the floor panels slid open to reveal the Doctor climbing up out of the TARDIS's floor, rubbing the top of his head. I did a double take.

I had only been with the Doctor for two days, and it still shocked me that I was actually in the TARDIS. With the Doctor. It just seemed a little way too good to be true, as cliché as the statement is. He dusted his hands off on his pants after he hoisted himself up out of the floor. "I just had to computerize the typiling-modulator so that it could correctly confribulate, enabling us to-"

I cut him off. "Excuse me, Spock? Earthling here, remember?" I drew a circle in the air around my face, emphasizing my point.

He frowned, and looked at me and said in a patronizing tone: "It makes us go faster."

"See, now **that** makes sense."

He looked exasperated, and I felt like laughing.

"So, where's Jack?" I asked to ease the slight tension.

"At your service, ma'am." I turned around and saw Captain Jack wiping his hands on a cloth in front of an open panel in the right wall of the TARDIS. As I watched, he swung it shut and walked over, tossing the greasy cloth on to the main control module. "I'm glad to see you up and out of bed." He commented, coming to a halt about two feet in front of me and crossing his arms.

"By the way, how are you feeling?" the Doctor interjected, shooting an annoyed glance at Jack.

"Much better." I said, turning to the Doctor. "I think almost all of the ancient prison dust is out of my throat." I chuckled sarcastically. "One more thing I can cross off my bucket list. But to be honest, I'm feeling a bit out of the loop."

"How so?" Asked Jack, before the Doctor could respond, earning him yet another annoyed look from the Doctor, while Jack leaned nonchalantly against the module, smirking slightly.

"Well," I thought for a moment. "First off, what happened to the hell demons? Are they all…'dead'?"

"That's easy." The Doctor said, half cutting off Jack as he opened his mouth to answer. "I went back and checked while you were sleeping. They're all gone. Not a trace, except for the fact that the old prison was blown up, but no one will miss it that much. S'not like it's the Bastille."

"And we have Jack to thank for that." I pointed out, turning to him and smiling. He smiled back, and winked. I blushed.

"Well, yes, I guess we do." Said the Doctor unhappily, but attempting to smile cheerfully.

"And secondly," I added, trying to break the tension, returning to the former subject. "I don't really know what goes on in here. Like, what should I do?"

"Well, for starters, you can come with me and make sure that no other damage was done to the site of the prison." The Doctor said.

"It blew up. How much more damage could it have taken?" I asked.

"I think he meant people, sweetheart." said Jack, his eyes seductively teasing. I pretended that I didn't hear him. I looked toward the Doctor, and he nodded, confirming Jack's statement.

"Oh." I said stupidly, not able to find anything else to say. "I'll come, sure."

"Let's go then!" The Doctor exclaimed, running toward the TARDIS's door, grabbing his jacket from where it had been draped over one of the arches of the TARDIS. I looked at Jack in a 'does he do this often?' way, and he just grinned mischievously, shrugged, and took off after the Doctor. I sighed, shaking my head, grinning, and followed. This could be fun.

"Whoa, careful there, sweetheart." Jack's arms wrapped around me a bit further than necessary as he caught me before I fell off of the piece of rubble I had been standing on. He also left them around me for about 6 seconds longer after I had regained my balance. I was embarrassed to admit that I had counted. "Wouldn't want to ruin that gorgeous face of yours now would we?" I blushed, unsure of how to respond. My usually quick tongue kept getting tied up, and when I got up the courage to actually talk to Jack, I said something stupid. So I just smiled and nodded. He dropped his arms and walked away, but not before shooting me yet another of his trademark seductive smiles. Leaping onto a higher lump of rock, a small gust of wind blew Jack's long, WWII coat out slightly. I stared at him in shock. He looked so sexy that I could have kissed him right on the spot. He turned and caught me looking. As I blushed, he lifted his chin up and raised his eyebrows in a sexy salute. I glanced away quickly under the pretext of searching the rubble for the Doctor.

I saw him squatting down by a pile of rocks. I made my way over to him, trying to be graceful about it, but ending up totally failing, and getting a number of scrapes and bruises to prove it. Maybe I should've worn pants...

I still couldn't understand how Jack and the Doctor managed to look so majestic and sexy, when all I did was look clumsy.

When I reached the Doctor, I plopped down on a rock next to him

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, leaning forward and bracing my elbows on my thighs and my chin in my hands.

"About to analyze this liquid to see if it's blood." He said, staring intently at a splotch of reddish-brown stuff on a rock in front of him.

"Ahhh." I said. Then the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the splotch, fiddling with the controls. As I watched him, a desire that had been gnawing at me ever since I met him rose. "Hey, Doctor?"

"Hmmm?" He said, not looking up.

"Ummm, do you think _I_ could try using the sonic? I…I mean, if that's alright with…."

"Of course!" He interjected, cutting off my embarrassed cover-up. He looked up at me with a smile and beckoned for me to come down next to him. I slid off my rock and knelt down next to him, excitement growing in my chest. I was going to use the sonic!

He placed it gently in my hand, closing his around mine. His other arm reached around me to wrap around my hand also as he knelt down behind me. "Setting 437." He told me quietly, and used his hands to guide mine to set the sonic. We then pointed it at the splotch and pressed the button. The electric noise shocked me for a moment after the silence. Then I felt the information stream in front of my eyes. It was as if I had a computer behind my eyes in which I saw a magnified picture of the splotch, with its molecular structure on the big screen, with information scrolling down the sidebar, feeding it into my brain.

"It's not human blood." I announced, squinting a little to look at the information closer. "It seems to be from the Hell demons. Maybe this is what the demons have for blood." I looked closer at the side bar. "Wait, no. I guess it's their saliva. Ughh." I made a face. "That's disgusting!" Then, without warning, the magnified picture of the saliva suddenly spazzed out and went all spiky. The Doctor gave a yell, and pulled the sonic and me out of the way. I heard this strange buzzing noise as the Doctor pulled me up and we scrambled away from the block, his hand in mine.

The block exploded into tiny pieces, sending debris flying. I screamed as bits of it tore into my back like tiny, red-hot needles. I heard the Doctor shout as well as he encountered the same fate. Then, it was all quiet. That is, until Jack raced over shouting, "What just happened? I heard an explosion!"

I moaned slightly at the pain in my back, and began to fall.

"Woaaah!" Jack lunged and caught me before I fell. I cried out as he touched my back. "Sorry." He grunted, and sat me up on a rock and knelt down in front of it. He slid his hands down to my thighs and looked up at my face. "You okay?" He asked, concerned. I nodded, now more focused on where his hands where than my pain. He turned to the Doctor, who was still standing. "How 'bout you?"

"I'll be fine." He said wincing slightly as he pulled a tiny piece of shrapnel from his back.

"Oooh, yikes. We might want to get you guys back to the TARDIS. Can you walk?" The Doctor nodded. Jack turned to me and raised his eyebrows. "You want me to carry you?"

I shook my head. "No, that'll just hurt worse. I'll walk. But thank you." I smiled.

As we walked back, Jack asked the Doctor what had happened, while keeping a watchful eye on me, presumably in case I fell again.

"Well," said the Doctor. "That splotch I thought was blood turned out to be the Hell demon's saliva, which, as it turns out is very volatile, and will explode on contact with sonic waves."

"Well, you learn something new every day, don't you Doctor." Jack said, smirking as we reached the TARDIS. He unlocked the door, and held it open for us to pass through. "Alright, med-bay, both of you." Jack shut the TARDIS door behind us.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Ow!" I winced, Jack's fingers brushing over a sensitive spot on my back.

"Sorry. But I promise this will help. I'm almost done, anyhow."

The coolness of the cream and the surreal feeling of Jack Harkness, intergalactic sex-god, running his hands over my back helped to offset the pain.

"Your back really looks terrible." The Doctor commented.

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks. It doesn't feel too great either."

"Sorry." Jack said, a little guiltily.

"Oh c'mon. Don't act like the block blowing up was _your_ fault!" I immediately reassured him. I shifted slightly, wincing. "It's just a little…uncomfortable."

I felt the Doctor soothingly grasp my hand. I turned my head to glance at him as I squeezed his hand gently. He smiled at me, the skin around his eyes crinkling. I felt a pleasurable tug in my gut as our eyes met, and it sparked a blush on my cheeks.

"Just get better, okay?" He whispered softly, and, as stupid and girly as it sounds, my heart fluttered.

"PDA." Jack muttered. I chose to ignore him.

"I could say the same to you." I said.

Jack's fingers paused. "What?"

"Not you, you stupid!" I had indeed made a grammatical mistake, but I wasn't about to admit it. "I was talking to the Doctor!"

"Well you didn't specify! Jack retorted.

I rolled my eyes for the 5,000th time today. And with my current company being who they were, it was not about to be the last.

A few days later, the cuts, which had turned out to be rather shallow, were healed, and so the Doctor decided to take us on an adventure. Apparently, in the Timelord Dictionary, the meaning of the word 'adventure' is…wait for it….getting chips. Both him and Jack were rather excited about it, and although I pretended not to be, I was excited that I could call them 'chips' when I ordered them, and therefore sound British. It was kinda fun. But not exactly what I would call an adventure. So I made him take us to a planet. A _new_ planet. So he set the TARDIS on random mode.

"Here we are!" the Doctor announced cheerfully from the place on the consol floor where he had landed after the TARDIS threw a time-machine temper-tantrum. "The planet of….." he glanced at the computer. "Avorgina!"

"Hey, isn't that the planet with the awesome avocados?" Jack interjected.

"Let's find out!" the Doctor announced, and promptly bounded out the door. I ran after him, after fixing my shirt and dusting of my pants. Stupid time-machines should not be allowed to have temper-tantrums. And the Doctor really needed to get some driving lessons.

The second I stepped out of the TARDIS, the smell of something…green hit my nose. I couldn't really tell what it was. Until I looked around. Everywhere I turned were avocados. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, and long ones. And not only green, but pink, blue, electric purple, orange, yellow, you name it.

"What in the-" Jack started, and then the Doctor ran up to us, waving something colorful in his hand.

"Look at this!" He cried, shoving a humongous, neon blue avocado in our faces. "Look at this! It's perfect!" he whipped three spoons from his jacket pocket, and split the avocado in half. "Dig in!" he announced. Which he promptly did.

Turns out, Avorgina avocados have a reason for being famous throughout the galaxy of Timorang. They were actually really quite good.

Also, to sweeten the deal, the planet was split across the equator, with the North being where all the avocados were grown, and the South being completely made up of amazing beaches. So even though the Doctor was still oohing and ahhing over the stupid avocados, and begging to stay, Jack and I dragged him down to one of the beaches. He swore that he was not going swimming, and that he was fine with watching me and Jack.

"You are such a spoil-sport Doctor." I whined.

He shrugged.

"Screw you." I retorted.

"Please, just not in public. There are children." Jack suggested. I whacked him on the arm. Hard.

Eventually, Jack and I wheedled the Doctor into changing into some maroon swim trunks, but then he just sat on the beach on a towel, and claimed he just wanted to "soak up the sun." Jack and I finally decided to go have some fun, and leave the stupid poop to it.

We ran down into the water, and splashed around a bit. The weather was perfect, and I felt amazing. This was all I'd ever dreamt of. Being with the Doctor, going on adventures, and having a blast. And having Jack along was just the proverbial icing on the cake.

"Hey, Ariel!" Jack called, wading over towards me. "I have an idea." He beckoned me closer, and I leaned in. He whispered his idea in my ear, and I doubled over, giggling in evil glee. I ran onto shore and grabbed an unused sand bucket, then ran back to Jack. He filled it up with water, and then we both lifted it and carried it quietly onto the beach, towards the form of the Doctor. His eyes were closed, and the sand enabled us to move silently. Jack counted down with his free hand. One, two…..three!

We tipped the bucket over onto the Doctor's face, screaming bloody murder while attempting to contain our laughter. The Doctor jerked up with a yell, clawing at his face and spitting water out of his mouth.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" he yelled. "You got water up my bloody nose!" But Jack and I were rolling in the sand, shaking with raucous laughter. It was just so funny! The Doctor was completely unaware, and his _face….._ I laughed even harder.

As soon as we could catch our breath, Jack and I high-fived. Unfortunately, because of that little incident, the Doctor forced us to go back to the TARDIS, and leave. I was a little sad, but it was soooo worth the look on his face…..

While the TARDIS was just drifting through the vortex, I went to see the Doctor: He'd been skulking in his room ever since we left Avorgina.

I knocked on his door softly. "It's Ariel."

"Come in." I heard him say. I pushed the door open slowly.

I'd never been to his room before, but the TARDIS had sensed that I wanted to go there, and had shown me the way. As I stepped into the room, I was struck by how simple it was. All the furniture consisted of a plain, mahogany bed with white bedding, a nightstand with a lamp, a dresser, and a closet, all against the right wall. Spilling out across the expanse of the left wall were pictures. Photos of people. There were a lot of them. I saw Rose Tyler's face, Donna, Martha, Jack, and…. me. My senior picture was posted underneath Jack's picture from WWII. The walls were painted a deep burgundy that set the mood of the room: very calm and serious. I realized that this was the Doctor's sanctuary, and that he was letting me see it. I felt a wave of gratefulness sweep over me.

The Doctor was sprawled on his bed, arms bent, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. When I followed his gaze upward, I saw that his ceiling was our galaxy, spread out across a deep blue background, the stars twinkling, and the planets twirling gracefully in perfect motion.

He motioned upward. "Of all the places I've traveled to, your galaxy is my favorite. Know why?"

I sensed that it was a rhetorical question, and so did not respond. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, facing the left wall.

"That's why." He gestured to the pictures. "You. Humans. You're so amazing, and so stupid, all at the same time. You stupid apes always need saving from _something_….. And I love you for it."

As he said his last words, he looked at me. We stood there in silence, just looking at each other. I was overwhelmed that he trusted me with this information, and so flattered that he thought me worthy of knowing.

"My picture's up there." I commented lamely, vaguely gesturing towards the wall, not breaking eye contact, but wanting to break the silence.

"Yes, it is." he said quietly. "For a very good reason."

A shiver ran through me. He stood up and walked over to me, and took my hand. "If I needed only one excuse to save the earth time and time again, it would be you. So that you could be happy. I'd do anything to make you happy…" he trailed off.

I slid my hand into his free hand and pulled him closer.

"I…love you, Ariel." he halted, then rushed ahead. "IneverthoughtI'dfeelthisforanyoneafterRoseandI'ms osorrythatIdidn'ttellyouearlierbutIdidn'tknow-"

I cut him off. "Would you shut up?" He looked at me, stunned into silence. "For just one second, could you stop over-thinking things, and just be happy, and enjoy what you feel? Just one second? Please? For me?" I added softly at the end.

He looked down. "Of course. Anything for you."

I huffed impatiently. "Oh, c'mon, don't say it like a chore you have to do. Do it 'cause you _want_ to, not 'cause I asked. 'Kay?"

He looked up again. "Alright," he said smiling. "I'll enjoy it."

The Doctor, **my **Doctor, looked down at me tenderly. I leaned forward, pulling him down to kiss him, but he hesitated. I looked at him, instantly but irrationally terrified that I'd read his actions wrong.

He attempted to smile reassuringly down at me, apparently sensing my apprehension. "I was just thinking…" he glanced sideways. Not a good sign. "That maybe it would be a good idea if I dropped you back on earth temporarily, hopped in the TARDIS, and flew it into the future a bit, to when you're older, and meet up with you there, because…well, currently…there's one hell of an age gap…"

"And make me wait for you? No way!" I was horrified, terrified, mortified! But not altogether surprised: I had never considered the idea seriously, but it had crossed my mind more than once. "How would I know what you would get up to?" I joked, half serious, half desperate.

He cracked a mischievous smirk as I tried to smile convincingly at him.

_Would he really do that to me?_ I wondered, hoping and praying that he wouldn't.

"Besides," I added. "You're 900 years old: how long do you want me to wait for you? There's always going to be a substantial age gap, no matter **what** you do."

The Doctor laughed, agreed, and kissed me.


End file.
